careful
by Hades.youngest.son
Summary: Will has spend the last five years of his life taking care of his boyfriend Luke, until one faithful night, he scoops up someone on his night shift as a paramedic. It doesn't take long for Will's life to get turned around. Contains graphic content TW: emotional, verbal, domestic and sexual abuse, self harm, suicide, alcoholism, smoking. read at your own risk.


Will was on the night shift today and so far it had been pretty quiet and his shift was almost over. There only had been a few drunk people and one fist fight that they had to take care of. Will was just hanging out in the ambulance with his partner Austin, playing cards when they got a call.

When they got to the emergency Will jumped out the ambulance first. A young man was laying on the sidewalk, unconscious. Will kneeled down next to him to feel his pulse. It was very low. His skin was cold and his wrist was worryingly skinny. Will lightly shook the boy's shoulder.

"Can you hear me, Sir?" No response. Will shook him a little more forcefully. Still, no reaction. Austin got down next to him.

"I talked to the lady who called 911" he informed him. "She said he just dropped and passed out."

Will nodded "He's unresponsive. His pulse and temperature are very low, too"

Austin stood up. "Let's get him to the hospital."

As soon as they had started driving, Will started searching the young man's pockets for an ID. He found a phone. It was password protected but there were a few messages displayed on the lock screen. A number saved as 'aquaman' had texted 'where are u??'. Luckily, Will could respond to the messages without having to unlock the phone, so he texted 'aquaman' to 'call this number please'.

Aquaman must have been very worried about the boy because he called almost immediately. Will put him on speaker.

"Are you okay?" A man's voice asked as soon as Will answered the phone.

"Hello, my name is Will Solace I'm a paramedic of the Apollon Hospital, who's this?"

"My name is Percy Jackson... did something happen? Why do you have his phone? Is he okay?" the man rambled.

"Your friend was found passed out and unresponsive. We are currently on the way to the Apollon Hospital. What's your friend's name?" Will asked him.

"His blood sugar is dangerously low", Austin informed Will.

"His blood sugar is what? Will he be okay?" Percy asked through the phone.

"What is your friend's name?" Will repeated.

"Nicholas di Angelo. Will he be okay?" Percy insisted.

"We're doing the best we can. Sir, would it be possible for you to meet us at the hospital?" Will tried to calm him down but from what he could hear through the phone, the man was hyperventilating.

"Yeah, I can do that. I'll be there in like ten minutes, tops." Percy rambled. Will could hear him trying to breathe calmly.

"Okay, sir. I'm going to hang up now, so I can take care of your friend, okay?" Will said slowly.

"Okay..." Percy sounded close to tears now.

Will ended the call and turned to his patient. They were almost at the hospital anyway. Nicholas di Angelo's pulse was still very low. He instinctively took his hand and squeezed it a little. The boy's face was pale, with long black hair sticking to the cold sweat on his forehead. His lips were almost blue. He looked really sick. Will let go of his hand started to unhook him from the machines, since they had arrived at the hospital. Austin took over to bring the boy into the emergency room.

Will followed closely after, keeping an eye out for this Percy Jackson Dude. But so far, no one was around. The ER doctors had put the patient behind one of the curtains and when Will entered, he was already in a Hospital gown and hooked onto several machines, including an IV.

"Why are you in here?" A voice asked behind him. It was Michal, his brother and a doctor in the ER. Will turned around to speak to him.

"I talked to his friend on the phone and he'll come here. I thought...", He tried to defend himself but Michael just nodded.

"I understand", he said. "Just don't get into tge way", he winked at Will and pushed past him to get to the patient.

"What's the diagnosis?" Will asked. He looked down at the boy. He was skinny, his skin was pale. But even though he looked sick, Will thought he was cute. His blue lips were full, he had long, dark eyelashes and a very juvenile looking face.

"Malnourished and dehydrated", Michael said. "I'd say he hasn't eaten in days. No wonder he passed out."

"Oh dear", Will mumbled to himself. He reached for the boy's hand and squeezed it. Poor thing. Michael noticed and raised an eyebrow at him. He always scolded Will for being unprofessional and getting too attached to patients but Will couldn't help it sometimes.

A nurse stuck her head through the curtains.

"Someone is here to see Nicholas di Angelo", she said.

"Thanks, Katie", Michael said. He nodded at Will as if to say 'you're up'.

As soon as Will entered the waiting room, a man approached him. He was tall, with messy black hair and piercing green eyes. His voice was deep as he spoke.

"Are you Will Solace? I'm Percy Jackson." He said hastily.

Will nodded. "You can see your friend in a moment. Don't worry, he's gonna be okay." He knew he wasn't supposed to say things like that, it was unprofessional to make promises, but Will didn't care. Percy nodded. He played with his fingers nervously.

"Okay, okay...", he said, his breathing was quick.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"He seems to be malnourished and dehydrated." Will said reluctantly. Percy buried his face in his hands. He was close to hyperventilating now.

"I should have never left him alone..." he mumbled. His voice was breaking as if he was about to burst into tears. Will carefully laid his hands on the man's shoulders and rubbed them lightly. Behind them, Michael entered the room.

"You can see him now, Mr. Jackson", he said. He must've gotten the name from the nurse. Percy nodded. Will dropped his arms and stepped out of the way. He followed Michael and Percy to Nicholas di Angelo's room. As soon as Percy saw his friend, he was at his side, crying into his chest.

"I should have never left you alone... I'm so sorry...", Will heard him sob. He fought the instinct to walk over there and hug a stranger. Michael turned towards him.

"Don't you have a night shift to attend to?" he asked. Will held up his wristwatch.

"Actually, it ended like five minutes ago", Will grinned at him in triumph. Michael rolled his eyes at him but he couldn't hide his smile. His pacer buzzed and he quickly excused himself from the room.

Percy was still crying into the boy's chest. Will stepped close to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Percy looked up at him.

"I should have never left him alone", he sniffed. Will squeezed his shoulder lightly.

"Don't beat yourself up", he said warmly. Percy just sniffed.

"I should have taken better care of him... I'm all he has left", Percy mumbled. Will carefully led him to the only chair in the room.

"Sit." he said. Percy plopped down onto the chair. Will sat on the floor next to him.

"He'll wake up won't he?" Percy whispered after a moment of silence. Will nodded.

"His body is just very exhausted at the moment, but I'm sure he'll be up soon", he said. Percy nodded. They were silent again. Will wondered if Percy wanted him to leave. He considered getting up and walking out when Percy spoke again.

"So how long have you been a paramedic for?" he asked Will.

"Three years", Will replied. "Everyone is my family is some sort of doctor. My brother Michael, he's the doctor that treated your friend and my sister Katie is a nurse."

Percy nodded. "I'm a lifeguard and swimming coach. I... I was away the last week, teaching a swimming class in the school my friend teaches at... I thought Nico would be fine on his own for a few days", he snorted. "Guess I was wrong."

Will thought for a moment, not wanting to darken the mood even more. But before he could say anything, Percy spoke again:

"I thought he'd be okay on his own... I mean I called him every day to see how it was going but when I got home today he was gone and now he's in the damn hospital... and next month I have to leave again... we need the money, I can't stay home and I can't take him, he has work..."

Will didn't think before he opened his mouth when he said:

"Hey man I know this is weird, but if you need someone to be here and to like check on him sometimes... I could give you my number."

Percy looked at him like he was crazy for a second but then he shrugged.

"That would be great actually... you seem like a good guy and you're a paramedic you can take care of people."

Will was surprised but enlightened. Something about Nico had fascinated him and he was glad to help. Just as they were exchanging numbers, Nico started to wake up. He stirred and as his eyes shot open, he began to panic and tried to rip out his IV. Will jumped to his feet and ran over to him. He hit the button to call for a nurse and then turned to Nico. His heart skipped a bit when his eyes met Nico's. They were large and dark and in this moment, they were full of fear.

"Where am I?" He asked. His voice was husky, almost as deep as Percy's, and it was melodic. His dark eyes searched around the room and his whole face lightened up when he spotted Percy, who had stepped up to the bed. He reached out for Percy's hand and suddenly, Will felt like an intruder in their private moment. He quietly left the room as soon as the nurse arrived. He went to get a coffee and just hung out in the break room, talking to nurses and doctors.

About an hour later, Michael entered the room.

"This Jackson Dude is asking for you, Bro", he informed Will. Will looked at him in question and Michael just shrugged.

He met Percy at the front desk, where he was filling out some paperwork. He greeted him with a simple "Hey".

Percy looked up at him and smiled.

"Hey", he finished the form he was filling out and put down the pen.

"I just..." He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it even messier than before. "I wanted to thank you for taking care of him. And for offering your help. Means a lot to both him and me."

Will smiled. "It's no big deal, really. I mean, that's my job, isn't it?"

Percy shrugged. "Yeah, but offering to take care of him isn't. Thank you, really. I wouldn't have known what to do if he got bad again and had to be alone."

Will nodded. "I understand."

Percy laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Anyways, I gotta take off now. They're keeping him here for a while to get his vitals up and I tried to make my co-worker cover my shift, but that guy is honestly a dick."

Will nodded again. "Alrighty" He almost said Percy 'could text him if he needed anything' but that seemed a bit much.

Percy popped up the hood of his blue sweatshirt and waved, then turned around and walked out.

Will stood there for a second, frozen. It had been a long night but to him, it was worth it if he had helped someone. And he had.

He briefly considered just going home to go to bed, but then he changed his mind and turned to the front desk instead to ask for Nico di Angelo's room number.

When he quietly entered the room Nico had been transferred to, Nico seemed to be asleep. Will stopped in the door so he wouldn't wake him and just looked at him. He was sleeping on his side, with his back turned towards Will and his long hair covering his shoulders. His skin was visible through the open back of the hospital gown and even though it still was really pale, it looked a lot healthier than when Will picked him up. Will smiled to himself and turned around to leave, when he heard the covers shift behind him.

"Who are you?" A voice asked behind him. Will turned around. Nico had sat up in bed and was looking at him, his arms wrapped around his torso as if he was cold.

"My name is Will Solace. I'm one of the paramedics that brought you here." Will spoke softly so he wouldn't scare Nico off.

Nico nodded slowly, then he lighty tilted his head to the side. "Wait, are you the guy Percy mentioned? That's supposed to watch over me when he's not around?"

"Yeah that's me", Will said carefully. Nico didn't answer. He nodded as if he was thinking thoroughly.

"I didn't think he'd have that little trust in me now", Will heard him mumble to himself.

"I'm sure he's just worried", Will tried to reassure Nico, but he just shook his head.

"I disappointed him..."

Will didn't know what to do. He carefully went over to the bed and laid a hand on Nico's shoulder. Nico looked up at him. He looked tired.

"I'm okay", he said and shrugged Will's hand off. "I just want to catch some sleep now, okay?"

Will nodded and backed off. He awkwardly waved at Nico.

"Good night, Nico"

Nico didn't answer. He had fallen asleep already.


End file.
